Tuesday, September 4, 2012

How Many Bracelets Can a Person Have ?

lol !  I'm gonna say as many as one can collect !  lol !  Since I started making the kumihimo beaded bracelets, I have added at least 12 to my collection if not more.  Where's the rolling eyes when I need them !  lol !  Anyway, eventually I'll be donating to the small local hospital gift shop. I just need to get over there.  It's a 30 plus minute drive so it's just a matter of doing it one day.  I have enjoyed making them and let's face it, I'll pick a few favorites and those are the ones I'll wear over and over.  Isn't that how we do it anyway with most everything we wear ?  We have those favorite things that we go to just about every time we step out the door ?  Plus I just bought a bracelet from someone that I'll HAVE to wear since I bought it.  lol !  That one I'll keep for sure. 

I have to say for the several weeks my jewelry making mojo just sorta flew out the door.  I do believe it's because I'm ready to get back to the torch but it's still too hot to do that.  In the meantime I did manage to put together  - you guessed it - a few more bracelets over the weekend.  This time, I went in a new direction on three of them.  The sad part is the forth one, even after 3 seperate tries, ended up not coming together at all.  sigh.  It happens and more on that in a moment.  

This is what I ended up making.  I am VERY pleased with the outcome on all three.  
 
The red one is made with multi color blue beads and my own hand dyed red silk cord/string.  I used a different pattern on it rather than the usual one done on these disks.  The middle/bottom one is made with multicolored hand dyed satin cording I've had for a while and amber colored beads.  There's alot of sparkle and shine in  those beads which is hard to see in the photo.  The last one is done with frosted rose green magatama beads and let me say, the color is stunning in real life !  The photo does them no justice at all !  I really like how they all turned out very much.  
 
The 4th bracelet I attempted to put together just didn't come together well at all.  I tried making a bracelet that all the strands were completely beaded.  It's a gorgeous look and I've wanted to do it for a long time.  So I tried it - 3 seperate times over the weekend !  I used size 11/0 delica beads too on all 8 strands.  The key is tension.  I have to figure out the proper tension.  If you don't get the tension right, it won't come together well at all.  Also, this is where my bead spinner sure came in handy !  lol !  Still, even using the spinner it took some time getting all those beads on those threads.  So I will not give up and will try this again soon.  I just needed to take a little time away from it before trying it again.  I mean, I didn't want to  have to pick up any tiny seed beads off the floor after I threw them at the wall !  lol !
 
Thanks for coming by.  I hope you come back again soon.    
 

2 comments:

  1. Hello Debbie. I've just discovered you blog when I was looking for information on kumihimo braiding. Love the bracelet with the amber beads! I'm hoping to try a braid with magatama beads too. In regards to tension, do you use a weight on the end of the braid? I use a large bead (about 3/4oz weight) clipped to the beginning of the braid, it keeps the tension just right for me. It's also a good use for a very ugly bead that I have ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Karen -
      Thanks for the compliment on my bracelet. :)
      You'll have alot of fun with kumihimo !
      Oh yes, I use weights on all my braids. I've been making braids for many years.
      The tension I was referring to above is when making a braid using all 8 strands that are loaded with beads.
      Thanks for coming by and I hope you come back again soon. :)
      Debbie

      Delete